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A Court of Thorns and Roses
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas | 2015 | Young Adult (YA)
10
8.7 (107 Ratings)
Book Rating
My first 10 star rating in nearly 7 years!
Lets be honest, im not a die hard fantasy reader. I didnt like lord of the rings, i didnt like harry potter, i dont like game of thrones.. i could go on. I have pretty much decided that if a huge majority of people are raving about something i will most likely hate it.
Why i picked up this book then? Well, i recently joined a few bookclubs and this author was what everyone talked about, everyone had these inside jokes that i had no idea what they were talking about... i guess that ticked me off enough times to buckle and give this book a try... AND OH AM I HAPPY THAT I DID.
Im not going to go into details about the book and potentially spoil it.. however i will say a few things.
Firstly, after a few chapters in brace yourself.. there is no "down time" to this book, no filler. I literally had to.. HAD TO, put the book down to process because it was so good.
I can not speak for this authors writing in any other novel because this series is my first of hers.. but the writing is beautiful and intricate. Do not expect to speed read this..it wont happen.
everytime i thought i knew what was going to happen next.. I WAS SOOO WRONG. (And im actually pretty good a guessing.)
The characters are so well thoughtout and i love each one of them as i should for what they are. The main characters of a book are usually the only ones you get to know, but we see into the past, future and present of each one of these beautiful souls.
So i guess what im saying is.. i went into this book ticked off lol and very much expecting to DNF ing it. And i came out the other side in love.. ...
  
A Stranger in the House
A Stranger in the House
Shari Lapena | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
6
7.1 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
I really wish I had loved this book more! I have heard so many good things about her debut (which I still need to read!) so I was expecting great things from this one too. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t awful but I guessed the different twists straight away and I wasn’t so keen on the writing style, although more on that later because I’m conflicted!

I thought the characters in this one were quite well developed. You definitely got a feel for them and their lives, but none of them were particularly enthralling characters to read about. I didn’t find myself rushing to get back to the book to know what Tom was going to do next, or how Brigid felt in the next part. They were fine, but not great. Nor, were any particularly likeable, in my opinion.

When it comes to the writing, I’m a little conflicted. I said earlier I wasn’t so keen on it, but it did add some suspense to the novel, which is always good. I guess what I didn’t like so much was the repetition of “my wife / my husband” or using someones name about 3 times in a sentence.

I can’t think of much more to say about this one… I enjoyed it enough to continue reading it, and reasonably quickly. It only took me a few days to get through (which may seen like a lot for a short book, but I was in the middle of leaving and starting a new job)!

Even though this hasn’t been my favourite book of the year, I still want to read Lapena’s debut, and depending on if I like that, I will read her next book too. I always find second books slip in quality, ever so slightly? Not all the time, but that’s how I find it a lot of the time.
  
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Karen Gillan recommended Funny Games (2007) in Movies (curated)

 
Funny Games (2007)
Funny Games (2007)
2007 | Drama, Thriller
6.3 (8 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This is hard, because it could be many things. I mean, it could be Kubrick, it could be Haneke again. Do I need to mix it up a little bit? I feel like I’ve gone very serious. I think it’s either 2001: A Space Odyssey or Funny Games by Michael Haneke. What I like about Funny Games is a moment, actually, where all of it… OK, I think 2001 is a better movie. However, there’s a moment in Funny Games that’s genius, that I love, which is when he turns to the audience, and suddenly turns the whole movie into this kind of study, where we are accountable as an audience. Because we like the violence that’s happening in the movie, and he’s doing it for us, so suddenly we’re culpable. And I think that’s a really cool moment in film that I haven’t really seen other than that. Yeah, I thought that was really clever. Also, I’m talking the American remake, not the original, because he remade it shot-for-shot for the American audience, which is really interesting, because he made it in German and then it only had so much reach, and then was like, “I want to make this for a society where violence maybe is a little more glamorized.” And I’m not just saying that about Americans; I think we’re the same in the UK, where we really like watching that on-screen. It’s just a really interesting study into that, and so, for that reason, I’m going with that. And one time I hosted a screening where all of our friends came down and watched it, and I have never seen a more depressed group of people in my life, and it was a huge mistake. [laughs] Everyone left immediately. No one hung around after."

Source
  
Underworld  by Tonight Alive
Underworld by Tonight Alive
2018 | Alternative, Pop, Rock
10
6.8 (4 Ratings)
Album Rating
Have played this album on repeat all year
I stumbled up on this album on Spotify when I should have been doing uni work. The plan was to find a band I didn't know and listen to them so I had some background noise and I wouldn't get distracted. Unfortunately it took a few loops off this album to realise, I was dancing in the chair more than typing words to a page.

So, Tonight Alive are a band from Australia and the album also features other artists, one well known one being the lead singer of Slipknot and although I'm not a fan of Slipknot, boy can that guy sing well in the track "Underworld" I beautiful ballad.

At the time of first binging this album, I was suffering with sciatica and the track "Temple" was fun to listen to because hey my body IS a temple and "why does it hurt like hell?" The album has a range of tracks from get up on your feet and hop around shaking your head (unless you have sciatica or a slipped disc) to the ones where you will happily push out a ballad in almost perfect harmony while have a shower.

I wish I had listened to this band in my younger days where sciatica wasn't an issue but alas, it has been my go-to album... Even when I start to drift a way, I find myself putting this one back on while doing the school run. It has gotten to a point where my kids know the words to the songs. The songs are written with such poetry, filled will beautiful imagery that makes me sometimes question my descriptive work but yes, this band is so talented and I hope one day I get to see them live.
  
How to Hang a Witch (How to Hang a Witch, #1)
How to Hang a Witch (How to Hang a Witch, #1)
Adriana Mather | 2016 | Young Adult (YA)
6
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
In order to combat my reading slump, I’ve been binge listening to a lot of audio books. Yesterday, I finished How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather. I didn’t see the term historical fiction used to describe it, however I feel that it’s a suiting genre considering what the author reveals to us in the afterward.

How to Hang a Witch is read by Mather as well, and I find her voice to be quite suiting for the main character. Then again, the main character seems to be an version of herself that is relevant to the story. With characters that are primarily in high school, it works quite well. I will admit, and this has affected my rating a bit, that it takes some time to get used to Mather’s voice.

<a href="http://theghastlygrimoire.com/2017/11/26/book-review-how-to-hang-a-witch-1-by-adriana-mathers/"; target="_new">Read more at <i>The Ghastly Grimoire</i>.</a>
  
TM
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I read this years ago but didn't realize at the time that it was a duet and had a cliff-hanger ending, so I was left bereft. So being in an Egyptology kick lately, and now having the concluding book, I decided to give it a go while waiting for the third Amelia Peabody mystery to come in at the library (which is coincidentally called The Mummy Case).

While <i>The Mummy Case</i> as a whole is highly improbable, it has a certain charm and was a cute read. Even though it is a Harlequin book, I liked that it dealt less with the romance and more with the mystery, probably because it is part of a duo. I've read Dawn Stewardson books before and have been impressed with how well she can develop the plot and characters in so few pages. I look forward to reading the completion the <b>Voice of the Nile</b>. ;P

3.25 stars
  
RI
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
While Nola Mae Harper is intent on finishing up the store front for her new peach business, the rest of Cays Mill is talking about the cotillion, the age old presentation of the young women in town into society. But when a fight over a dress leads to murder, Nola finds herself caught up in helping her friend Ginny prove she is innocent.

I had a lot of fun on this return visit to Cays Mill. Nola is a good main character, and I liked watching her grow here. The rest of the cast is fun as well. I did figure out the mystery early, but there were still a couple of twists I didn’t see coming, and I was having fun along the way, so I really didn’t mind.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/04/book-review-rest-in-peach-by-susan.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
The Predator (2018)
The Predator (2018)
2018 | Action, Horror
Gore (3 more)
Special Effects
Jokes
Plot
Rushed in parts (2 more)
Dark shooting
Camera angles
Carry on Predator!
Well! I have been looking forward to this film for so long and although I enjoyed it as a whole, I felt it could've been a lot better.

It felt more of a comedy sci-fi than your usual Predator film with laughable moments all the way through it.

I understand that there were some requirements to cut parts of the film and edit a lot of the scenes because of this so I think I would've been happier with a delayed release than the final product if it meant honing a few things but it won't stop me from buying it when it comes out and it made for a good night out to the cinema.

Overall it is well worth the watch and is a good film but I just feel that if people are going to compare to the original then they are going to be upset!
  
Indivisible (2018)
Indivisible (2018)
2018 | Drama
Great faith based movie
I was really looking forward to this movie when I saw the trailer. It has a few cast members that play in Grey's Anatomy, and their characters had similar personalities. I love the actors and they did a great job.
This movie is based on a true story about a military chaplain and his family. The film did a great job showing the families struggles, and how the family dynamics changed before and after deployment. I was worried that since it is a religious based movie that they would attempt to pray away PTSD or other mental health issues. I was happy to see that they didn't do that instead other characters encourage those In need to seek help. Over all I think it was a very real protrayel of the struggles military families go through. I would suggest this movie to other people who enjoy a tear jerker.
  
Next in the independence Island series…Scrumptious Independence by Melissa Wardwell! I have been looking forward to this book for months. and boy was it worth the wait. I loved her balance of character interaction with the emotions and memories she invoked in me through her characters. It truly was a fun book to read that I had a hard time putting down.

I thought Melissa Wardwell did a great job engaging not just your eyes but your memories too! From her yummy sounding recipes (that may or may not have set off a cooking spree, much to my husband’s delight), to the hints of a mystery within, added with a dash of super sweet romance between Beth and Scott… I mean what more can I say? This book is a recipe for a good clean engaging read. Well done Melissa Wardwell, now I can’t wait to see what will happen on the Merriweather Islands next